Method of treating boiler feed water



July 13 1926. F. o. PAIGE METHOD OF TREATING BQILER FEED WATER FiledOct. 25. 1922 QZ. I

la wnz r. W fl7 4 i usedwhere no pump is employed.

Patented July 13, 1926.

name 0. rams, on NEW roan, N. Y.

'- un'rnon or 'rnnnrrne "roman rnnn'warmn.

Application filed October 25, 1922. Serial No. 596,802.

. This invention relates to a method of treating the water to' be usedin locomotive" boilers in order to remove scale, oil and grease andprevent foaming, pitting, corl' rosion and galvanic action in saidboilers.

' It has been vfound quite diflicult for a railroad company to.satisfactorily treat the water used in locomotive'boilers by placingchemicals either in the boilers or tender'tanks because of the greatvariety of water used along the line of the railroad. Where a v 4chemical treatment may be suitable for one" kind of water it may bedetrimental when appliedto another kind of water. It, i851 1 therefore,desirable to treat "thewater, at its sourcje,'o r in the waysidetank,"'providing it can be done satisfactorily. Attempts have been madeto apply the chemicals to the way- L side tanks in liquid or powderedform through various feeding devices," but they' have not beensatisfactory.

The object .of the present invention is ac-' complished by providing amethodor system of supplying the chemicals to'the wayside" tanks of arailroad in such a form and in such quantities as will. permit theproper treatment of various compositions of'water available in differentlocalities or points along the railroad. The invention will be. firsthereinafter described in connection with the-accompanying drawings,which constitute part of this specification, and then more specificallydefined in the claims .at the end of the description.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference characters areused to des v 'ignate cdrresponding partsthroughout theseveral views sFigure 1 is an elevation of the apparatus 40 used in the practice of thepresent invention when a pump is employed for feeding the water through.thec emical holding reservoir or container, v

Figure 2 is a similar view of the appara- The pioportionate quantity ofthechemical compound used in the treatment of the water actuallyconsumed at a wayside station in a given set time is first determinedand the amount of water allowed to pass through the chemicalcontainerlor-res'ervoir 1 is made dependent on the observed or knowntime it takes to dissolve the thus determined quantity of chemicalcompound when in the form of compressed balls, spheres, or the like,with respect to thefiow of the water through the container." In order toinsure the uniform dissolution of the sphericalvv shape and compressedto such a constituencythat it will take anywhere from 'chemical compoundit is prepared in ball or 8 to 24 hours for it to'dissolwe under con.ditions such as prevail in the reservoir 1- wherein the balls aresubjected-as mobile.

units to thedissolving flow of passing water. These spherical pieces ofthe chemical compound are indicated at 2 in the containers 1 inFigures 1. and- 2, said containers being shown; partly in section. Whilethe spherical shape of the ieces or chemical compound are preferab yused because it ensures uniform dissolution and maintenance of its shapeuntil entirely dissolved, itwill be understood that other shapes may beused which give substantially the same results. Said'pieces of. chemicalcompound are also preferably made in pound size so that it is notnecessary to measure or weigh them to determine the numberto be placedin. the. container 1 to meet any particular requirements, but the sizeas well as the shape of said pieces may be varied if desired.

Where a comparatively small amount of chemical compound is required totreat the water in a particular wayside tank, the container or reservoir1 is made smaller than where the water in another tank requires agreater amountof said chemical compound.

Any-number of different sizes of containers or reservoirs maybe employedas may be necessary to meet different requirements.

It will be noted that. inasmuch as the size and number of balls orchemical compound which will be dissolved in a certain quantity offlowing water in a given time is known, the dimensions of the severalsizes of containers mayalso be determined with reference thereto. Thus,when the composition of the water to be treated requiresonly from 1 to 5balls of the chemical compound/to be dissolved in 24 hours, a container6 inches in diameter and- 15 inches in length may be used, while if from6 to 25 balls of the com pound are to be dissolved in 24 hours to meetthe requirements of another compound of water, then a container, whichis 8 lnches g in diameter andj;30 inches in length would be employed.The size and she. e of the containers may, however, obvious y be variedaccording to requirements.

. Iii-Figure 1 the pipe 3 is used for pumping water-from a well (notshown) by means of i the pump 4, the water being discharged from thepump into the tank (not shown) via pipe 5. by-pass pipe 7 leads from thepipe 5.to the bottom of the container 1 while another by-pass pipe 6extends from the top of said container to the pipe 3, so that water'isbypassed through said container around the pump when the latter is inoperation. As indicated by the arrows, the suction from the pump drawswater from pipe 5 through by-pass' 7 into the bottom of the container 1and out the top passepipe 6 to plpe 5. In passing through said containerthe water is impregnated with the chemical dissolved from the balls 2,and

said impregnated water is drawn through the pump from pipe 3 to ipe 5and delivered by the latter pipe to he tank,

It will be noted that the water by-passed around the pump so astocirculatev through the chemicalcontainer 1 enters said container at thebottom below the balls 2 and flows out of the top of saidcontainer sothat there is no tendency for the balls to.clog up the outlet pipe aswould be the case if the out-- let were in the bottom just below theballs where the inlet is in the present a paratus. It will also be notedthat two -va ves may be arranged in either or both of the pipes 7 and 6,so that one valve may be set or adj usted to permit just the desiredamount of water to bypass the pump, according to the quantity ofchemical it is desired to have dissolved in a, giventime and supplied tothe wayside tank, while the other valve in the same pipe operated forturning the system on or off without disturbing. said set or adjustedvalve. As shown in Figure 1 two valves 9 and 9' are placed in the pipe 7and two valves 8 and 8 also arranged in the pipe 6.-1 Either of thevalves in either of said pipes may be used as the setting valve and theother used for turning the-system on or ofi. .For instance, valve 9 maybe adjusted or set at any desired point and left there, and the systemthen turned off or on by means of the valve 9, or the same result may beaccomplished by a similar use of the valves 8 and 8'.

In Figure 2 the pipe 10 through which the water is conducted to thewaysidetank (not shown) has a valve 11 therein and'bypass-pipes 13 and12 leadin from said pipe 10 at opposite sides of sai valve 11 to thebottom and top, respectively, of the 'container 1 for the chemicalcompound balls 2. This form of the invention is designed to be usedwithout a pump where water under pressure of city mains or the. like isavail-v able. The water passes through said pipe 10 in the directionindicated by the arrows and is controlled by said valve 11. The pipe 13leading to the bottom of the container 1 is fittedwith an elbow 16facing the oncoming current of water in the pipe '10, whereby ofsaidcontainer via by-' some of said water is deflected or by-passed throughsaid pipe 13, the chemical container 1..and pipe 12. It will be notedthat the water enters the bottom of said container and flows out the topthereof, as in Figure 1. The by-pass pipe 13 is fitted with two valves15 and 15 serving the same purpose as the valves 9 and 9 or 8 and 8 inFigure 1, while thepipe 12 is fitted with a single valve 14 although twovalves may be used therein if desired. r

In order to distinguish the form or condition of the chemicals used byme from solutions, powders or small ranules, the use of which I do notclaim, Istate in my claims that the chemicals are in the form ofagglomerated units. While I have stated that I may use these chemicalsin pound units, it is obvious that I may employ them in units of largeror smaller size, but the size should not be so small as to ap roach tooclosely the form of mere granufes not permitting a substantially freepassa eof water between them or rendering them 'able to be carried asunits out of the container 1 by the flow of the water.

I claim:

1. The method of treating water with boiler compounds at a wa side tankfor subsequentuse in locomotive oilers, which comprises'establishing aflow of such water to the wayside tank, simultaneously diverig a portionof said flow, passing said dive portion over chemicals in the form ofagglomerated units, in such a manner as to cause a dissolution of thechemicals and maintain only such a concentration as not to causesubstantial precipitation in the untreated portionirrespectiveof whetherthe flow is continuous or intermittent, and reuniting said chemicallytreated portion' of the water with the untreated portion.

2. The method of treating water with boiler compounds at a we side tankfor subsequent use in locomotive ilers, which comprises establishing aflow of such water to the wayside tank, simultaneously divertingaportion of said flow, passing said diverted portion upwardly .throughchemicals in the orm of agglomerated units, in such a manner as to causea dissolution of the chemicals and maintain only such a. concentrationas not to cause substantial precipitation in the untreated portionirrespective of whether the flow is continuous or lntermittent, andreuniting said chemically treated portion of the water with theuntreated portion.

3; The method of treating water with boiler compounds-at a wayside-tankfor sub.- sequent use in; locomotive boilers, which to the wayside tank,simultaneously diverting a portion of said flow, passing said divertedportion through chemicals in the form of agglomerated units locatedwithin a liquid comprises establishing a flow of such water containerand restin substantially on the entire bottom thereo in such a manner asto cause a dlssolution of the chemlcals and maintain only suchaconcentratlon as not to cause substantial precipitation in the un--portion through chemicals in the form-of 15 agglomerated units within asubstantially sealed liquid container; in such a manner as to cause adissolution of the chemicals and maintain only such a concentration asnot to cause substantial precipitation in the un- 20 treatedportionirrespec tive of whether the flow is continuous or intermittentand reuniting said chemically treated portion of the water with saidflow.

- In testimony whereof-I have signed my 2 name to this specification.

FRED O. PAIGE.

